Women's Cross Country Set To Open 2013 Season At New Hampshire

The Holy Cross women's cross country team will begin the 2013 season at New Hampshire with Providence on Saturday, August 31, at 11:00 a.m.

Seniors Emily Hughes (Milton, Mass.) and Sandra van den Heuvel (Nashua, N.H.) will serve as the team's co-captains for the second year in a row in 2013. Last season, Hughes led the team with the top Crusader finish in each of the six races she competed in. She set a career-best 5K time of 18:01.28 at the New England Championship on Oct. 7 and was named Patriot League Female Runner of the Week. Van den Heuvel ran a season-best time of 19:05.9 at the National Catholic Championship on Sept. 14.

The Crusaders are scheduled to run in nine races this fall, including the Patriot League Championship on Nov. 2 in Easton, Pa., hosted by Lafayette. Qualifying members of the team may also compete at the NCAA Northeast Regional on Nov. 15 and ECAC Championship on Nov. 23.

Select members of the team will travel to the 30th annual National Catholic Championship on Sept. 20 hosted by Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. Holy Cross and the Fighting Irish will be the only two schools in the country to have participated in this event all 30 years of its existence.

Holy Cross returns eight runners to the 2012 roster and welcomes nine newcomers including eight freshmen and one sophomore. Along with captains Hughes and van den Heuvel, the team will also be led by seniors Kerry Dunne (Mendham, N.J.) and Amanda Waldron (Walpole, Mass.).

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